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Pictured here with Stevie Wonder at the 2000 NAMM Show.
Christian Martirano, president and founder of Designsounds, has spent more than 20 years as a sound designer for such legendary companies as Sequential Circuits, Kurzweil Music Systems, Yamaha, Nord, and Roland. Through his work at Kurzweil, he has had the unparalleled opportunity to work with renowned musical artists while designing 5.1 sound FX for animated video shorts.
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Chris has a long list of credits creating sounds for artists on just about every label including Atlantic, Atco, Vision, and Island Records. This solid background combined with his specialized skills, has led him to form Designsounds.
For Designsounds' clients, being able to network with the industry's top sound designers - the same designers who create content for video games, short films, and television - offers our clients a rich talent pool with tons of experience.
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A scene from Ministry of Progress at the Jane Street Theater in NYC.
Synthesizer programming is our specialty - programming for Broadway shows such as Ring of Fire (based on the music of Johnny Cash), All Shook Up (based on the music of Elvis Presley), Curtains, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman's Whistle Down The Wind, Walmartopia, and the off Broadway musical Ministry of Progress, for which Chris was also musical director, song writer, and synthesizer and sound effects programmer.
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Working with David Rosenthal at his studio on A Tale of Two Cities.
Recently we worked on the 2009 production of A Tale of Two Cites with David Rosenthal (Billy Joel's keyboardist).
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2008 NAMM Show with Patrick Moraz, former keyboardist with Yes and the Moody Blues.
Patrick uses Sysnthogy's Ivory virtual piano instrument software. Chris designed many of the programs for Synthogy and also serves as their Director of International Business Development.
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Pictured here with Jack Hotop, senior programmer for Korg synthesizers, and Jordan Rudess, keyboard wizard, composer and member of Dream Theater.
Jordan and Chris have worked together on many projects for Kurzweil, and for Jordan's online conservatory. Jack and Chris have colaborated on programs dsigned for Korg synthesizers. They are all close personal friends.
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2009 NAMM show with friends and Kurzweil artists Gregg Mathison and Abraham Laboriel.
As Director of Product Development for Kurzweil Music Systems for more than 12 years, Chris contributed significantly to their award winning products. He created many of the sound programs used by artists and musicians world-wide and heard in films, televsion and on records.
We also design audio tracks for websites. We recently created a custom audio track for Young Chang Pianos which you can hear at:
http://www.youngchang.com and click on Quality tab.
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WE CAN COMBINE THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS
Our state of the art tools and industry ears make for better results. We continually update and revise our gear so we stay current with the latest technology, but we always maintain some prized vintage gear.
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We also use a large complement of video programs including Videodelic, VJ, Photoshop, Illustrator, and other cool programs.
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Working in the pit at the Hobby Center in Houston, TX on Whistle Down The Wind.
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On stage at the Beacon Theater New York (left to right): Wendy Carlos, Larry Fast, Jordan Rudess, Christian Martirano, Gloria Cheng, Matthew Davidson, Mayumi Reinhard, Clare Cooper, and conductor Ettore Stratta performing Switched On Bach 2000 for the Bach at the Beacon Concert. We were the principal synthesizer programmers for all seven synthesists. Chris insured that the classic analog timbres were faithfully recreated in newer all digital instruments.
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In his band, Voices (Atco Records), Chris handled all keyboards, synth arranging and programming, and contributed as a song writer for the band's self titled album. Voices was signed to Atlantic by Doug Morris and managed by Larry Mazer of Entertainment Services Unlimited.
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The Solution (Last Kingdom Records/Vision Records). In addition to playing keyboards, Chris programmed all synth and drum tracks for The Solution. He also acted as the assistant arranger on their album. The Solution was produced by Ms. Bette Wright and Cleaven Johnson. The Solution was recorded on Last Kingdom Records and distributed by Vision Records. The group performed live for BET on the Bobby Jones Gospel Hour in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Performing live with Higher & Higher Band (http://www.higherandhigherband.com) keeps programming skills fine tuned for live tour performance programming.
